On the recommendation of people here and elsewhere, I tried Pukka's Night Time Tea last night. It was very nice (would be OK with a milk substitute IMHO) and while I still took a while to get off to sleep I felt as if I was more relaxed and slept more deeply.

The only thing was, the cat took a shine to it (devotees of the Daily Cat And Kitten News thread may be vaguely aware that this cat is so greedy he even goes after herbal tea).

He didn't just sniff it, he was trying to share my cup!

I think I will look at the contents for anything vaguely related to catnip.

There's chai and chai. IMHO, sickly sweet Starbucks-like (or any American style) chai with vanilla and too much cinnamon is abomination, but I glug down several mugs' worth of Palanquin (properly spiced teabags, with no extra sugar or milk powder added) chai a day. Never been to India but I reckon I'd smash my way through at least half-a dozen of those little raw-clay cups full per day if I got there.

On the recommendation of people here and elsewhere, I tried Pukka's Night Time Tea last night. It was very nice (would be OK with a milk substitute IMHO) and while I still took a while to get off to sleep I felt as if I was more relaxed and slept more deeply.

The only thing was, the cat took a shine to it (devotees of the Daily Cat And Kitten News thread may be vaguely aware that this cat is so greedy he even goes after herbal tea).

He didn't just sniff it, he was trying to share my cup!

I think I will look at the contents for anything vaguely related to catnip.

Click to expand...

Valerian is a common herb for sleepy human drinks and pills, and it's also a common substitute for catnip. My cat isn't a fan of catnip, but really rather likes valerian-filled toys.

For a hot milky comforting taste without milk, recommend you try Sahlab - made from powdered orchid root. It is really delicious if you can get the real stuff. Unfortunately, the instant versions that are easy to find in Middle Eastern shops are bulked up with cornflour and too much rosewater (and possibly milk powder), so best to be choosy. Feel free to add as much pistachios and cinnamon (cf below) as you like, but none on mine, thanks.

I thought almond milk (and almond farming) was really environmentally catastrophic - a lot of the almonds grown for this use are in desert areas in California, and require massive amounts of water in areas that regularly suffer from drought... allegedly...